CURRENT MISSION

I am currently on my first real adventure through Africa. Looking for others to make the experience as fulfilling as possible.

ABOUT ME

World Traveler turned Expatriate. 89 countries and counting, now residing in Russia for11+ years.

My Doc Martens and dilapidated passport are my two most prized possessions!

While an American (originally from California), I presently live as an Expat in my chosen home, Saint Petersburg, Russia. I primarily work as an English Teacher, but I also moonlight as a rock DJ at night, and as an actor or model as requested. I have DJed in California (US), Saint Petersburg (RU), Nizhniy Novgorod (RU), Arkhangelsk (RU), Petrozavodsk (RU), Helsinki (FI), Tallinn (ES) and Prague (CZ). While I love my work, travel is my priority, and therefore I spend 3 months a year on my backpacking journeys. Care to be a part of my story???

Pierced from head to head, with a back, chest, ribs, arm, forearms and feet decorated with ink!
Our bodies are a canvas... I like to paint.

No Regrets! Live, Learn, Drink, Fight, Love, Fuck, Forgive, TRAVEL... then live to share your stories!!!

Leave the world a better place than the one you entered into.

Get to know me here:

www.instagram.com/thomasinrussia
www.facebook.com/thomas.lowers
www.vk.com/thomaslowers

If like myself, English is your more/most comfortable language, you are welcome to watch the following short documentary about my life in Piter here (but warning, the first video does include some adult content):

https://vimeo.com/176926473
(Password: Thomas Lowers)

Also, here is a short interview with Voice of America: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0DApqFjTOQ

Users of Russia's VK social network can watch the following interviews here:

Russian MTV (Starts at 2:39): vk.com/videos5637893?z=video5637893_144476595..

Voice of America - American Expat in Russia: vk.com/videos5637893?z=video5637893_456239030..

RUSSIA Beyond The Headlines: vk.com/videos5637893?z=video5637893_163082667..

Moscow's ZVEZDA (STAR) Channel here: vk.com/video5637893_139542729

Ex·pa·tri·ate

1. to banish (a person) from his or her native country.
2. to withdraw (oneself) from residence in one's native country.
3. to withdraw (oneself) from allegiance to one's country.

"I do not miss America...
because last month
the plans for a future war
were all I saw
on Channel 4.
Risk some humility;
show some humanity,
if you want my love..."

PHILOSOPHY

"Adventure"
Author Unknown

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endless changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun."

"Dead Souls"
As written by Nikolia Gogol

"Everything in you is poor, straggling and uncomfortable: no bold wonders of nature crowned with ever bolder wonders of art, no cities with many-windowed tall palaces built upon rocks, no picturesque trees... Everything in you is open, empty, flat; your lowly towns are stuck like dots upon your plains... there is nothing to beguile and ravish the eye. But what is the incomprehensible, mysterious force that draws me to you? Why does your mournful song, carried along your whole length and breadth from sea to sea, echo and re-echo incessantly in my ears? What is there in it? What is there in that song? What is it that calls, and sobs, and clutches at my heart?... Russia! What do you want from me? What is that mysterious, hidden bond between us?"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have been a member of the official Couch Surfers site for many years, hosting guests in California, as well as providing travel assistance to all whom inquire. Somehow I managed to create two profiles. I apologize for this confusion. You can search both by my name: Thomas Lowers.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I was a host for both couchsurfing.com and hospitalityclub.org while still residing in California many years ago. However, while it cannot be seen on Couchsurfing.com, I have also hosted and guided many individuals through my chosen home of Saint petersburg, Russia. After individually backpacking through 80 countries, and countless cities, I still find my fairytale here. That being said, nearly all of my guests have contacted me not by way of this site, but through online interviews I have done about my life in Russia. Firstly, they usually request my insight on managing the visa process, but are nearly always greeted by me at some point during their visit, or provided accommodation when desired.

It is my goal to share with the outside world the beauty and life that Russia has offered me. For this reason, I assist in any way possible to assure that guests visiting this magical country leave with amazing experiences to share with others. If I can somehow help in this connection between all nationalities, and the Russian people, then I will feel as though I have done my part to honor Russia in all that it has given me.

My most recent guests were a group of Argentinian friends I made while traveling through South America in 2017, who I was honored to host for their visit during the World Cup.

Interests

Travel, Music, Living Life!!!!

• arts
• writing
• documentaries
• environment
• drinking
• traveling
• painting
• music
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Say Anything, Lolita, Gia, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Stilyagi, Брат, Бумер, American History X, American Beauty, Slumdog Millionare, Falling Down, Waltz with Bashir and of course Clockwork Orange... As for documentaries: Long Way Round and Long Way Down.

Music: Depeche Mode, КИНО, Morrissey, The Smiths, Joy Division, Interpol, Placebo, Ляпис Трубецкой, Ленинград and Gogol Bordello

Books: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, Master and Margarita, LOLITA (lo...li...ta...), Story of O, The Catcher and the Rye, Into the Wild, 6 Days of War, The Russian Way and Russia... the People and the Power!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Reached my '7 of 7' in 2019 - visiting all seven of the Modern Wonders of the World (+ the Pyramids of Egypt, which is the only remaining Ancient Wonder of the World).
Mountain biked the Road of Death in Bolivia.
Ran with the Bulls in Pamplona.
Individually trekked the Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, in 19 days.
Paraglided off the French Alps.
Cruised the Fjords of Norway.
Peaked multiple volcanos throughout the Americas.
And most importantly, traveled across the whole of Russia TWICE on the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Teach, Learn, Share

When not traveling, I am a teacher of English, DJ, actor and model.

What I Can Share with Hosts

20 years of travel and a lifetime of experience.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Estonia, Russian Federation, United States